Of Gods and Magic
by patattack
Summary: Hector Anderson, a young man with great power buried within, but weighed down by many burdens. When tragedy strikes again, will Zatanna be able to soothe his aching heart, or will loneliness consume him?
1. A Not so Average Night at Work

Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League, or any of its characters. I only own the oc character that appears in the chapter, and the one that's mentioned.

I came up with the idea for this some time ago after watching the JLU episode 'This Little Piggy', and thought "What if one of the guys at the meat packers was smart enough to figure out the pig with the bracelets was really Wonder Woman, and this is what I came up with.

* * *

**A Not so Average Night at Work**

Hector Anderson was normally a calm man, and not often prone to be overly expressive, safe for certain situations. But at the moment, he was having a bit of a hard time hiding his annoyance and lack of interest as one of his co-workers kept rambling on about something or other during break time. Hector's job, as it had been since he was eighteen, was at place called Hansen Meatpackers, where the single product being processed was pork. "And then I was like 'Hey, baby, wanna to the bar? I know this awesome place that serves some killer beer.' And when we get there and start drinking, she's getting a little tipsy and starts talking about this time she worked as a waitress in this dump where she spent half her time avoiding perverts trying to grab her ass. And I just have to pretend to be kinda interested and she's eating it all up and stuff. I'm telling you dude, she was so easy it was unbelievable."

"Sounds pretty interesting, Larry," Hector muttered, nodding absentmindedly. 'What a fool,' he thought to himself, resisting the urge to sigh. 'He just keeps going on, and on, like there's no tomorrow. Why did I volunteer to work a night time shift during the weekend? That's right, because I decided I was going to take Cassandra to see that magician Zatanna's show for her birthday and I needed to put in the extra hours to be able to afford it. Oh, the things I'll do for my little sister.' Hector smiled a little at this, thinking of how surprised and happy his fifteen year old sister would be when he'd tell her what he had planned for her birthday. Hector was suddenly distracted from his thoughts when he realized that Larry had asked him a question and was waiting for his answer. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked when you planned to start going out hunting for a girlfriend." Larry asked.

"I just haven't really thought about it that much," he admitted. "I've been pretty busy with work looking after Cassandra, and about fifty other different things. Besides, I'm not sure I'm much of a prime candidate for women."

"Seriously, are you kidding? Dude, you're 25 years old, you're big and tall, as tough and strong as an ox, not to mention you've got the kind of looks a lot of women would go for. Plus, I heard you can cook as well as any master chef. Trust me, the odds are way in your favor. You just need to go out there and get em."

"Sure, if you say so," Hector replied in a modest manner. "Well, if you don't mind, I've got to use the can before I get back to work." He then stood up and walked to the bathroom, idly thinking about what Larry had said. After he was finished and was washing his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. His reflection showed a young man in his prime, standing at an imposing six feet six inches tall, very fit and well built, without any bulk or fat. And despite being modest about his own appearance, he could certainly be called handsome, with his clean shaven face, short black hair and deep green eyes.

"Hey, Hector!" someone called from outside the bathroom, banging on the door. "We've got a bit of a problem here."

"What's wrong? Did one of the machines break down, or did someone hurt their back picking something up off the floor?" he asked, drying his hands off, then going to open the door, seeing another of his colleagues standing there.

"Neither. One of the pigs got off the line and Scott's chasing it all around the place. You're pretty fast and smart, so you should be able to catch it easily. Plus, you've got a hell of a grip, so when you get your hands on that pig, I'm sure it won't be able to escape."

"Okay, I'll get right to it." Hector then walked out into the main part of the plant, and after a few short moments, he found Scott, who was looking around with a flashlight, holding a shotgun in his other hand. "You found that loose pig yet?"

"No, but I'm betting it's real close."

The two men walked together for a bit, searching for the escaped pig, until Hector spotted something in the shadows. "Hey, I think I see something. Shine the light over here." The other man did as requested, at which they could both see a relatively small pink pig that, interestingly enough, had a pair of silver bracelets on its front legs. Upon being spotted, it started running away, until reaching a large stack of barrels, turning around only to see Hector and Scott standing in its way.

"Say good night, pork chops," the other man said, cocking his gun. However, when he fired, the pig put up its front legs, causing the bullet to be deflected off of its silver bracelets. Obviously, neither one of them had expected something of the sort to happen, although Hector's surprise was hidden behind a pensive frown as he tried to make sense of this. For his part, Scott, who was clearly confused by such a turn of events, opted instead for cocking his gun and trying to shoot the pig again. This time, the four legged animal in question ran out of the way, causing the shot to hit one of the barrels behind. Seeing that the stack had become unstable, Hector quickly grabbed his colleague by the back of the collar and pulled him away just in time for the barrels to not fall down on their heads. "Whoa, quick thinking there," Scott commented in relief. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Hector said as he helped him to his feet. "Listen, why don't you just put the gun away for now and go find a few of the others guys to help. And in the meantime, I'll try to find the little porker so we can catch him."

"Good luck with that thing. It's a slippery one, that's for sure."

'Let's see…' Hector thought as he walked around with a flashlight, looking for the pig. 'Silver metal bracelets that can deflect bullets means Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a part of Greek Mythology. Turning people into pigs was a trick used by Circe, who also happens to be a part of Greek Mythology. So, if that wandering pig really is Wonder Woman, then I should make sure the others don't get their hands on her. Therefore, I'd better find her before them.'

In the midst of his search, Hector came across a small spot of water with what looked like a pair of pig tracks in the midst of it. He then knelt down to see what direction the tracks were pointed, placing one hand flat against the ground. As he was looking closely, he could feel a slight tingling sensation in the back of his mind, almost as if he was sensing vibrations running through the ground. Intrigued, but not particularly concerned, Hector continued his search, and ended up in a corner at the back of the plant, which, at the moment, was devoid of anyone but himself and one particular pig. "Well, I didn't expect to find you this quick," he muttered out loud. "I must have a six sense or something."

The pig looked at him, grunting as if in confusion, apparently not feeling as threatened of him alone as it had been when he was with Scott. Hector started to approach slowly, taking care not to seem menacing, and knelt down before her/it. He then reached for its left front leg, gently grabbing a hold and lifting it up so as to be able to better examine the silver bracelet. Unfortunately, at that moment, one of the other guys came around, his loud appearance and exclamation startling the pig, prompting it to flee yet again. "How'd you let it get away?" Larry. "You practically had it in your hands."

"I'm pretty sure that pig isn't exactly what you think it is. Besides, you're the one that startled it so that it ran away."

"You mean it isn't just another pig?"

"How many pigs come in here wearing silver metal bracelets?" Hector asked as he followed in the direction she/it had gone, with Larry tagging along.

"Umm... not a lot, I guess."

"And how many of those bracelets are capable of deflecting bullets fired from four feet away?"

"Even less, I'd imagine."

"And isn't it strange how those bracelets look just like the ones Wonder Woman wears?"

"Yeah, that's kind of weird."

Hector remained silent after this, moving along until they reached the point where a few of their colleagues had already grabbed a hold of the pig, tied up its legs and had just dropped it onto a conveyor belt. Upon seeing this, the young twenty five year old man made a beeline for the conveyor belt, grabbed the pig with one hand, lifted it up and set it on the ground. "Hey, wadda you think you're doing?" Scott asked.

"Look, calm down guys," Hector said, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. "Just give me a moment and I'll-" A flash of bright light suddenly erupted from where the pig was lying, and a few seconds later, Wonder Woman was floating a few feet off the ground, snapping the ropes around her hands like it was nothing. Upon seeing the not so happy look on her face, all the guys turned around and ran, pulling up a metal door through which they hastily made their exit, despite the swarm of pigs that emerged. "Excuse me, Wonder Woman?"

"And who might you be?" she asked, a wary look on her face.

"My name's Hector Anderson, I work here at Hansen Meatpackers. Well, I actually work on days during the week, but I volunteered because I needed the extra hours. Anyway, you were kind of transformed into a pig up until a minute ago, which I'm assuming is the sorceress Circe's doing. Somehow you ended up in this place, and while you were running around, I figured out who were really were and managed to stop the guys from putting you on the line and through the grinder. So… yeah, that's about it. Speaking of which, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Wonder Woman said in a more relaxed tone. "I should probably get going now. Although I am curious, why would you need to volunteer for more work here?"

"Well, I promised myself I'd take my sister to see that magician Zatanna. She's turning sixteen soon, and I wanted to give her something special for her birthday."

"That's very kind of you to think of your sister like that. What's her name?"

"Cassandra. And before you say anything, my father was a great fan of Greek Mythology."

"I see… Well, despite circumstances, it was nice meeting you."

"Same to you."

"Goodbye, and may Gaia smile upon both you and your sister."

Wonder Woman then flew out of the building, heading off to who knows where. "Well, Cassandra's never going to believe me when I tell her what happened tonight."

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So, I hope you liked it, and please review. Constructive critism is accepted.


	2. Girls and Magic

**So, I decided that instead of having a bunch of small Justice League stories, I'd just go with a single one. And although I have, and probably will follow some of the episodes to a certain degree, I'll mostly take this my own way.**

**Speaking of the justice league, as you might know, I do not own it in anyway, Dc Comics does.**

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**Girls and Magic**

**By: Patattack**

Following the eventful night at work when he had met with Wonder Woman, Hector Anderson was home in the little apartment where he lived with his younger sister. Although it wasn't the best place possible, or the biggest, or most expensive, it still did a good enough job of housing them. Currently, Hector was lying on the long couch, since there was only one bed, which he insisted she sleep on, despite her protests that she could take the couch. Despite the late morning, Hector was still sleeping peacefully, up until the moment when someone barged in, exclaiming "I'm hooooome!" 'Someone' turned out to be a young, pretty teenage girl, under 5 feet tall, with dark brown hair, green eyes, wearing a gray jacket and with a backpack slung over her shoulder.

As she stepped inside the small apartment, she happened to notice an envelope lying on the floor and bent down to pick it up. The name on the envelope indicated that it was for 'Hector Anderson', but oddly enough, it had no return address. The girl simply shrugged her shoulders at this and turned her attention elsewhere. "Hey, big bro, rise and shine!" she called out to Hector, closing the door behind her. His response was simply to groan, turn over and continue trying to sleep. However, the girl did not intend to allow him to ignore her, as she dropped her backpack, made her way to the couch and started shaking him. "Come on, sleeping giant, wake up already!"

"Alright, alright," Hector said in protest, pushing her aside with one hand. "What time is it anyway, midget?" he asked, after stretching his limbs for a second and pulling himself off the couch.

"It's almost noon, and I'm not a midget," she shot back in a huff. "I'm just a late bloomer, that's all."

"Suuuure, call it what you want, little sister," Hector replied with a grin on his face, reaching out and ruffling up her hair, to her protest. "I suppose I should whip up something for you, unless you've eaten already?"

"If the master chef would be so kind, then yes, it would be much appreciated, thank you."

"Alright, one supremely awesome lunch coming right up." With that said, Hector made his way over to the small kitchen area and started looking through the fridge. "Care for hamburgers, Cass?" he asked, turning his head towards his sister.

"Works for me, bro," Cassandra called out from her room, currently in the process of emptying her backpack and putting away its contents.

"Hamburgers it is." Hector then pulled out a package of hamburger meat from the fridge, along with a few other things, and got to work. "So, how was the sleepover last night?" he asked as he was putting the patties together.

"Aside from the fact that that airhead Jessica kept yammering on about some love drama for half the night that I was hardly even listening to, it was pretty fun. By the way, there's a letter for you I picked up just when I walked in."

"Can you open it up for me? After you set the table, that is."

"Okey dokey." A moment later, Cassandra was finished cleaning up and setting the table, and cut open the envelope, which contained a short note, two tickets, and 40$ in cash. Of these things, Cassandra seemed far more interested in the two tickets, as given by her reaction when she examined them closely. "No way!" she cried out in excitement.

"What is it?"

"Someone just sent us a pair of tickets to go see Zatanna in two weeks! And they both include a backstage pass to meet her in person after the show! This is freaking awesome!"

"What?" Hector exclaimed, surprised by this. "Who sent them?"

"Dunno, there's no return address, just this note. '_A gift for helping a friend of mine when she was in need._'"

"Does it say anything else?"

"'_P.S. Use the money to take a cab instead of having to walk._' And there's also something at the bottom that looks like a bat, if I'm not mistaken."

"Let me see that." Hector said, flipping the patties and grabbing the note, looking it over for a few seconds. "I think I understand it now."

"Well…?"

"As weird as this may sound, and it will sound pretty weird, I actually met Wonder Woman when I was at work last night."

"No way," Cassandra said, surprise painted across her face.

Hector then began retelling what had happened the night before, with the pig on the loose, how he'd drawn his conclusions about its true nature, and the part when it had turned back into Wonder Woman. "After I told her what happened, she asked me why I'd need the extra hours and I told her I wanted to get a couple of tickets to see Zatanna's show, since your birthday's coming up soon. So I'm guessing that she'd have told Batman about it, and he sent this to say thanks."

"That is so cool!" Cassandra exclaimed, jumping at her brother and hugging him fiercely. "And you're the most awesome brother anyone could ever ask for."

* * *

Sunday evening, two weeks later, Hector and Cassandra were stepping out of a taxi that dropped them off right at the theatre where the show was meant to happen, as evidenced by the large poster sitting above the entrance. "You have the tickets and all, right?" Cassandra asked her brother.

"Don't worry, they're right here," he replied, pulling them out of his pocket as they stepped in through the door. Following the throng of people there to see the show, they came to an attendant who checked their tickets, and directed them to their seats, which turned out to be centered in the very first row, giving them a great view of the stage. Ignoring the looks certain people were giving them, possibly due to their 'not so classy' clothes, the two siblings simply sat there waiting, until the lights finally dimmed down and everyone went quiet.

"Finally, bout time it started," Cassandra muttered.

A puff of smoke suddenly appeared on stage, lingering a few seconds before it dissipated, by which time Zatanna herself had appeared under the spotlight. Later, while thinking back on the moment, Hector could honestly say that he found himself rather attracted to the alluring female magician. Fishnet stockings highlighted her long, slender legs, a white top and black tail coat brought out her hourglass figure, a black top hat sat atop a head of sleek, shoulder length black hair and a bright smile adorned her pretty face.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready to see some magic?" she asked, pulling a pair of roses from her sleeve and tossing them to the crowd, who cheered loudly in response. "I can promise you, I've got a couple of-" Zatanna interrupted herself by taking out a pad of paper from her coat pocket, followed by a few pens, pencils, a handful of erasers, two staplers and a mass of random items logically too big to fit. "Guess I should've emptied out my pockets before coming on stage," she joked. "Now for my next little trick, I'll need a deck of cards. But I just remembered I don't have one. I'll need a volunteer to help me out." A bunch of people raised their hands, trying to get her attention. "How about you?" she pointed to Cassandra, motioning for her to get come onto the stage, which she was happy to oblige. "And what's your name, young lady?"

"Cassandra Anderson."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Cassandra," the female magician said, shaking her hand. And when she pulled it back, she was holding a two of hearts. "Well, well, what do we have here?" She then extracted a five of spades from Cassandra's hair, a three of clubs from behind her ear, and continued on in this manner until she'd assembled a full deck of cards. "Thank goodness you came prepared. Now I'd like you to pick a card at random and show it to everyone else, but don't tell me what it is, and put it back in once you're done." Cassandra picked out the ten of hearts, held it out for the crowd to see, and placed it back in the deck. Zatanna then shuffled the cards, which flew in the air above her as if they had a mind of their own, making all sorts of elaborate patterns, until she finished and they all landed perfectly in her hands. "Now let's see if I can guess what card you picked. Is it this one?" she asked, holding out the two of clubs.

"No."

"Is it… the king of spades?"

"Nope."

"How about the jack of diamonds?"

"Nuh uh."

"Not even the eight of clubs?"

"Sorry."

Zatanna twirled her wand above the deck as she muttered a few words. But when she pulled out the next card, it turned out to be blank, along with the rest of the package. "Oops, must have said the wrong spell. Oh well, I guess these things…" she said as she pulled a blue handkerchief from her sleeve, and pulled, and pulled until she had one that was five feet long. "Hold on a second…" The female magician took off her top hat, stuffed the handkerchief into it and waved her wand. Cassandra then reached inside when prompted and ended up with a chocolate bar in her hand. "There you go."

"Thank you," Cassandra said as the crowd applauded

"You're welcome, and thank you for volunteering."

* * *

For the entire duration of the show, Hector and Cassandra, not to mention the rest of the audience, sat spellbound in their seats as Zatanna made a table disappear, conjured a pair of doves out of thin air, turned a rope into a snake and back, and so on and so forth. Finally, after more than an hour of tricks and illusions, she came to her last act. "Thank you. You've all been a great audience. But what kind of show would this be without the most classic trick of all?" Zatanna then took off her top hat, showing the audience that it was empty, and plunged her arm in up to her elbow. After rummaging around for a moment, she pulled out a furry white rabbit, which was holding a card in its mouth. "Now what do you have here, bugs?" she asked as she put her top hat on again. Taking the card in one hand, and subsequently making the rabbit disappear with a flourish of her wand, she held out the card for everyone to see, revealing that it was a ten of hearts. "So that's where it was," she exclaimed. "No wonder I couldn't find the right card."

The entire audience stood up and applauded her generously, cheering for her performance, to which she gave a graceful bow, before the curtains closed in front of her.

"Well, that was pretty awesome," Hector said as they were walking out of the room.

"Are you talking about the show or Zatanna specifically?" Cassandra asked with a grin on her face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Come on, I'm not blind. I saw the way you were checking her out when she popped up on the stage."

"I wasn't checking her out," Hector muttered under his breath. His sister merely gave him a look that clearly told him she didn't believe his statement at all. "… too much…" Cassandra raised a doubtful eyebrow at this, her expression otherwise unchanged. "… Was I?"

"Ever since mom passed away, you haven't gone out on a date even once. I know you're busy with work and looking after me and all, but you've got to think about yourself once in a while. And seeing how you're 25 and still single, I'd say it's pretty normal for you to at least look at women. And anyway, as I'm sure you remember, we've got passes to see her in person, and I am not letting them go to waste. Also, you're coming to see her with me, and that's that."

"Alright, alright," Hector said, smiling a little as he gave in to his sister's demands. He approached one of the theatre people and spoke with him for a moment, showing him their tickets when he asked. The man then turned around and brought them backstage to meet Zatanna.

"You had better talk to her, or else I'll tell her exactly how much you were staring," Cassandra whispered to her brother.

"Well hello there, Cassandra," Zatanna greeted. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Yeah, I loved it!" she replied enthusiastically. "I've seen a few magicians before, but you were by far the best and most spectacular."

"Why thank you. And who's your friend here?"

Cassandra elbowed her brother in the side, prompting him to introduce himself. "Oh, um, I'm Hector Anderson, Cassandra's big brother and sole guardian. I really liked your show by the way, and it's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet a polite guy like you for a change. Must be a challenge taking care of a teenager by yourself."

"Well, I won't deny that she can often be a handful." Hector gave his sister a mild glare at this. "But I wouldn't give her up for anything in the world."

"That's very sweet of you," Zatanna said with a smile.

"Umm, thanks," he replied, turning his head a little, trying to hide a light blush creeping onto his face.

"You know…" Cassandra spoke up. "Apart from being a star athlete, highly skilled martial artist, brilliant intellectual, pretty cool brother and a great guy in general, he's also a really awesome cook." She then lowered her voice and leaned in to whisper in Zatanna's ear. "Not to mention that he's also entirely single."

"Well, umm, that's nice to know," the female magician noted, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Whatever she just said, it's entirely her fault," Hector quickly specified, having noticed Zatanna's awkwardness.

"It's okay, I'm just a little surprised at how straight-forward she is."

"Hey, I just had a great idea. If you're free sometime this week, you should totally come over to our apartment for dinner."

"Are you sure about this?" Zatanna asked. "Doesn't your brother have a say in things?"

"Normally, yes," Hector answered. "But, she just turned 16 today and she's well aware that I can't bring myself to refuse her anything on her birthday. Besides, it wouldn't be any problem accommodating you."

"And like I said, he's a really awesome cook. Probably good enough to outdo any of those fancy restaurant chefs. So will you come? Pleeeeeeease?" Cassandra gave Zatanna her sweetest smile and puppy dog eyes, against which the female magician couldn't help but give in.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Sweet!" Cassandra exclaimed. "I know you won't regret it!"

"We should exchange phone numbers so we can get in touch to figure out a good time and date." Zatanna nodded at this, and the two of them wrote down their respective phone numbers and passed gave them to the other.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing you again soon. And happy birthday, Cassandra."

"Thank you," Cassandra piped up, before they all turned around to go their own ways. Hector and his sister walked out of the theater, hailed a cab and sat back as they were driven home. "Well… Aren't you going to thank your precious little sister for getting you hooked up with a hot young woman like her?"

"It's only dinner, not an extravagant hot date."

"Tut, tut, tut, minor details. Remember, you've got to think about yourself once in a while."

Hector gave his sister a warm smile and ruffled her hair. "Thank you."

"Just looking out for you like you've been looking out for me all these years."

* * *

So, I hope you thought it was worth the time it took to read, and if you would be so kind, please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated, brainless flames most certainly are not.


	3. Not a Date?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League, only my OC's that appear in this story.**

* * *

**Not a Date?**

**By: Patattack**

It had been a couple days after going to Zatanna's show, and Hector was currently making his way back to his apartment following a long day's work. Having made a stop in order to pick up some groceries, he was walking on the sidewalk carrying a bag when his cellphone rang, and pulled it out of his pocket to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Hector, it's Zatanna," the magician's smooth voice was heard.

"Oh, hi Zatanna," he answered. "How're you doing?"

"Pretty good, actually, thanks for asking."

"That's good to know. So, what's going on?"

"Well, you know how your sister invited me over for dinner at your place?"

"Yeah, how could I forget," Hector said in a bit of a joking tone. "She practically insisted that you come.

"No kidding," Zatanna replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, I was just wondering, would tomorrow at seven be alright for you?"

"No, I'm afraid I work Monday and Wednesday evenings, and Saturday during the day as well."

"Okay, then what about same time on Thursday?"

"There shouldn't be any problem with that. Just to be sure, do you have any allergies, or food you don't eat for whatever reason?"

"I'll admit that I'm not too fond of radishes and Swiss cheese, but I'm not vegetarian and I don't have allergies or anything."

"Great. How about steak, then? Would that agree with you?"

"Yeah, I could really go for a nice steak. I only hope you're as good a cook as your sister made you out to be."

"Well, Cassandra's usually the one bragging for me…" Hector said modestly. "But I do have a fair bit of experience in the matter, and I am pretty good at making steak."

"I'm sure it'll be as good as I imagine. So how do I find your apartment anyway?" Hector then gave her the address to the apartment, along with the directions to get there. "Thanks, I'll be looking forward to dinner."

"You're welcome, and so will I."

* * *

The next day, after his usual shift at the meat plant, Hector took a bus to the outskirts of the city, then walked for short while to get to a small farm where he helped out the owner, a German immigrant named Adolf Kaufmann, with whatever work needed to be done. Although, given his impressive fitness and stature, he often ended up doing the more physical labor and such, not that it bothered him, as he found it quite easy and had been doing this since before being forced to leave high school. This time, one of Adolf's sons drove through a field in a pick-up truck, while Hector and Adolf himself threw square bales of hay into a trailer hitched to the back.

"It sure was a good thing we had you here with us," Adolf said when they were finished late in the evening.

"It wasn't a problem, Adolf," Hector replied, wiping off his sweaty forehead with a rag.

"No really, it would have taken much longer without you," Adolf insisted. "You're worth a gold mine all by yourself. Tell me something though, when are you going to try to find a nice girl to go out with? Didn't you have a thing going with a girl named Alice Anders back in high school? She seemed like she was always happy, and a lot stronger than she looked too, though I swear there was something funny about those green eyes of hers."

"Yeah, but she's been gone for years now. Look, if it makes you happy, there's a woman coming over to my apartment to have dinner with my sister and me."

"Really? Good for you. What's she like? What's her name? Come on, man, spill."

"I swear, you're almost as bad as Cassandra," Hector muttered under his breath. "Well, she's really good looking, she seems pretty nice, and her name's Zatanna."

"Wait, hold on a second. You mean the Zatanna, the famous magician?" Hector merely nodded at this, at which Adolf clapped him on the back in congratulations. "You are one lucky man, landing a catch like her. How'd you do it?"

"My sister and I went to see her show last Sunday and we had passes to meet her backstage. Surprisingly, Cassandra came up with the idea, and managed to convince her by playing cute. And for the record, it's only dinner, not a hot date or anything."

"With a woman like that, you'll definitely want to serve up something good," Adolf said, ignoring Hector's protests about it being only dinner. "We've got some top quality steaks lying in the freezer, and you should pick a few apples so you can make your famous pie, and we may have a bottle of red white in the fridge. If you still cook as well as you do, she's sure to be impressed. And being the good looking, charming kind of guy that you are, I'm sure that after dinner she wouldn't be averse to a little-"

"Whoa! I do not need to know where this is going!" Hector protested loudly, much to Adolf's amusement. "And besides, Cassandra's going to be there too."

"Ist das richtig?" (_Is that right?_) the older man asked in German.

"Ja, ist es," (_Yes, it is._) Hector replied.

"If you say so. Now come on, we'll get you those steaks," Adolf said, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

* * *

Up in space, in the orbiting Watchtower, Zatanna was sitting at a table in the cafeteria with Wally, Mari and Dinah, chatting, sharing bits of gossip, and so on and so forth. "Hey, Wally, I heard you were on a big date recently," Mari spoke up.

"Really?" Dinah asked. "I hope you weren't your usual perverted self and treated her well."

"Hey!" Wally exclaimed indignantly. "I'll have you know I was a perfect gentleman, all along. She even complimented on how much fun I was at the end of the date."

"That sounds like it's stretching the truth a little far if you ask me," Zatanna commented. "Are you sure you didn't put any of your moves on her?"

"Well… I might have… a little," he admitted. "But she still laughed and said it was kind of funny how I tried."

"That sounds more like it," Mari said, rolling her eyes. "So does this lady have a name?"

"Linda Park. She's a TV reporter in Keystone City."

"That's all?" Zatanna complained. "Come on, tell us more about her. What's she like?"

"Yeah, do tell," Dinah piped up, sounding interested. "Give us more details."

"It hasn't been that many dates."

"So you're been out with her more than once?" Mari asked.

"Maybe," Wally muttered, feeling a little uncomfortable at the way the three women were looking at him, eagerly wanting to know more. "And what about you?" he said, turning towards Zatanna. "Are you seeing anyone, Zee?"

"No, I'm not."

"You know, if you really aren't seeing anyone, that'd make you the only one of us that's still single," Dinah realized. "I mean, I'm with Ollie, Mari's got John, and now Wally's going out with this Linda, which leaves just you alone."

"For your information, I'm having dinner with a nice guy tomorrow evening." As soon as the words left Zatanna's mouth, she immediately regretted saying them. Her three companions looked at her in silence for a second, surprised by what she'd said.

"Spill, now," Mari insisted.

"Umm… well…"

* * *

Not too long before the agreed time of the date, which both parties had insisted to their respective companions was not an actual date, Hector was almost finished cooking the steaks to perfection. Accompanying this were potatoes, carrots, peas, beans and turnips, all close to ready and waiting to be devoured, while an apple pie was sitting in the oven. "My, my, you sure went all out for your date," Cassandra said grinning widely.

Hector sighed as he turned around to look at his sister. "You know, it's not a real date with a third wheel like you hanging around, so why do you keep insisting it is?"

"Did I forget to mention that I wasn't actually staying for dinner?"

"Wait, what?"

The sound of someone knocking at their door was then heard, at which Cassandra went to answer. Upon the door being opened, Hector recognized the tall blond girl as one of his sister's girl friends from school. "Hey Cass, ready to go?"

"You bet, Sal," she replied, before going to grab a jacket.

"Hold on a minute," Hector interrupted. "Not to be rude, Sally, but what are you doing here? And why are you talking about going somewhere with Cassandra?"

"She said she wanted to go to the movies tonight so you could have dinner alone with your date. Did she forget to mention this?"

"She most certainly did not mention this to me," Hector said, frowning as he looked at his sister, who smiled innocently in return.

"To be perfectly honest, this was partly Adolf's idea," Cassandra said. "Well, we've gotta run now. Have fun on your date. But don't have too much fun," she added suggestively as she and Sally ran laughing out the door.

"Sneaky little brat," Hector muttered under his breath, turning back to the food, which was done a short while later. He then put two sets of dishes on the table, and just finished with the steak and vegetables when someone was knocking at the door again. "Just a minute," he called out, before going to open the door. Standing just outside was Zatanna, dressed in skinny blue jeans a simple, if slightly low cut red blouse, and a light coat overtop. "Hey, you're looking good," Hector blurted out before he could stop himself, his face turning an interesting shade of red. "I- I mean… why don't you just come in?"

"S-Sure," Zatanna said, blushing a little herself. "Say, where's Cassandra anyway?" Hector turned his head a little muttering a few choice words which she couldn't make out. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"She… kind of ran off at the last minute with one of her friends to go see a movie."

"That's kind of strange, since she was the one who came up with the whole idea."

"Yes… it is," Hector said awkwardly, embarrassed by the motivation for his sister's actions. "Can I have your coat? Why don't you have a seat? I've just finished making dinner."

"It absolutely smells delicious," Zatanna commented as she took off and passed him her coat before sitting down.

"That's good. So, do you want anything to drink? There's milk, water, juice, or wine, but I only have one bottle of red."

"The wine sounds, nice if you don't mind."

"Alright, red wine it is." Hector then grabbed the bottle out of the fridge and poured a glass for each of them, after which he served the steak and vegetables. "Bon apétit."

Zatanna took her fork and knife, cutting a piece of steak and popping it into her mouth, her eyes widening a little as she chewed. After she'd swallowed, she turned her attention towards Hector, who had a bit of an expectant look on his face. "I was wrong, this isn't as good as I'd imagined, it's even better. Seriously, this is the greatest steak I've ever had. Your sister sure wasn't lying when she claimed you were a world class chef."

"Heh, thanks," Hector said sheepishly.

* * *

Though it started out as a bit awkward, eventually they both opened up to each other and were making conversation like they were good friends. "If you don't mind me asking, are you and your sister blood relatives?"

"Family is not whose blood you share, but who you love, and who loves you," Hector replied. "And the answer to your question is no. I lived on the streets up until I was nine, when Cassandra's parents took me in and gave me a name."

"What do you mean, they gave you a name?"

"I have next no knowledge of anything about my birth parents, and I like I said, I lived on the streets until I was nine. The only name I had before then was 'Kid', 'Brat', or whatever else people felt like calling me."

"That must have been hard on you," Zatanna said softly. "How did you get adopted?"

"One day this police officer saw me fighting to stop a bunch of older kids from stealing a medal I owned. After chasing them off, he asked me why I'd fight so hard over something apparently worth so little, and I told him 'This may not look like much, but it's the only thing I have from my mother, and it's worth a lot to me.' After that, he brought me home, where his wife took care of me. They told me the story of the hero of Troy, Hector, and said I reminded them of him. Then they decided that that was going to be my new name, and eventually adopted me. On the day that happened, I promised I'd do whatever it took to repay them. And when Cassandra was born, I swore to always protect her, no matter the cost."

"Wow… that's very noble of you," Zatanna said with a heartfelt smile, gently reaching out to grab his hand. "I can see why they named you after a hero."

"Thank you, Zatanna."

"You know, you can call me Zee, if you like."

"Okay, would you care for pie, Zee?" Hector asked.

"I don't know about that. The food was just so good, I'm not sure I've got room left for more." Hector gave her a smile, letting go of her hand, incidentally missing the warmth of her touch, and went to the oven where he pulled out the apple pie, the wondrous smell making Zatanna's mouth almost water in anticipation. "Well… I guess I might not be quite as full as I thought."

Hector then cut her a small slice, refilling her glass of wine while he was at it, and did the same for himself. He then watched with amusement, and a touch of pride as Zatanna's face lit up in delight. "So, is it good?"

"I thought the food before was good, but this is awesome!"

After finishing dessert, Zatanna offered to help with the dishes, but Hector politely refused. "Just leave it be, I'll take care of everything myself."

"Okay then, if you're sure. Well, I guess I should probably think about getting back to my hotel soon."

"You know, it's a pretty nice night out," Hector began, feeling a little nervous at the idea that had just come to him. "And I was just wondering… would you like me to walk you back to your hotel?"

"Yes, I think I'd like that very much."

Hector then grabbed Zatanna's coat, holding it out for her to slip into it, then put on a simple jacket and walked out the door with her. As they walked along through the starry night, they continued their friendly conversation, ranging from one subject to another, Hector surprising her with his knowledge of different stars and constellations, among other things. "Just curious, but do you still have that medal you said belonged to your mother?"

"Yeah, I always carry it with me," he answered, reaching into one of his pockets and taking out a bronze medal that hardly looked expensive, yet was still clearly well taken care of. On one side, it was engraved with the planet earth, whereas on the other, there was a series of words that Zatanna could not understand.

"I can't figure out what the words mean. It all looks like Chinese to me."

"Actually, it's Greek," Hector informed her. "Against fear, be brave. Against despair, have courage. When hope seems lost, remember you are strong. Now go, live, love, and be loved."

"You understand Greek? No doubt it's just one in a long list of skills. How many languages do you know?"

"Well… I wouldn't want to sound like a braggart or anything…"

"Hey, you're a very intelligent guy, but 'braggart' isn't a word I'd use to describe you. You seem too humble and honest for that. So tell me, I'd like to know."

"Okay. I know French, English, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Japanese, and to a certain extent, Latin."

"… Whoa."

"Umm… I kind of have a talent for picking up new languages, and I really studied a whole lot back in high school."

"Super-human cooking and language skills, along with high level intellect, physical prowess and martial arts skills… You have any other super powers you'd like to tell me about?" she asked teasingly.

"As far as I know, I'm just your average human." Zatanna looked at him with an eyebrow raised in question. "Okay, maybe not quite average, but I'm pretty sure I'm still human."

"Alright, but I still say the fact that you can cook so well and speak that many languages counts as having super powers."

"If you insist, although I'd hardly imagine going out to fight super villains," Hector said in a joking tone. "I mean, what would I do? Throw a pie in their face, or shout words at them they can't understand?"

"You could always tantalize them with some of your awesome food and then force them to surrender if they want to have any of it." The two of them looked at each other for a second then burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea. Eventually they arrived before the hotel Zatanna was staying at. "You know, I really enjoyed myself this evening."

"Thanks. It was fun spending time with you."

"… Want to do this again sometime?" Zatanna asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"Great. My last show on Saturday finishes at three, so if you wanted, we could meet up at the theater at three thirty or so."

"I'll have to check to be sure I can make it for that time, but somehow I doubt there'll be any problems." The two of them stood there for a moment, feeling a little awkward, until Hector spontaneously, albeit gently, took Zatanna's hand and kissed the back of her hand. "Well, good night Zee."

"Yeah, good night," Zatanna replied, blushing a little as she turned around to walk into the hotel lobby. Making her way back to her room, she couldn't help the bright smile that broke out across her face.

* * *

"Well, how was the date? Was she dressed hot? Did she like the food? Did you guys talk much? What did you guys talk about? How did it go in general?" Cassandra demanded impatiently the moment he walked back into the apartment, rattling off one question after another like there was no tomorrow.

"It was fun, and things seemed to go pretty well."

"That's not nearly enough information, give me something better. Like how well did it go? Did you give her a kiss good night?"

Hector merely smirked at this. "Sorry, but it's already late, so you'd best be off to bed, young lady."

"Come on, you've gotta tell me more, pleeeeeeease?" Cassandra pleaded, giving him her best smile and puppy dog eyes.

"Not a chance. Now go to sleep."

"Aww, you stink."

"Tough cookies, little sister." Hector chuckled to himself at his sister's grumbling, smiling widely as he thought about the time spent with Zatanna, and how he looked forward to seeing her again, the smile lasting even up until he lay down on the couch and eventually fell asleep.

* * *

So, I hope you all liked this, and if you don't mind dropping off a review with your opinion, then that'd be much appreciated.

By the way, I left a few (somewhat subtle) hints about some interesting superhuman stuff in the first half of this chapter. Can any of you figure out what they are and what they mean?

There's also stuff about Hector himself that I also hinted at in the first chapter. I'll give one clue, it has to do with the medal he showed Zatanna, and somewhat involves the story he told her. *If you think you've got it figured out, I'd ask that you tell me your thoughts on the matter in a PM and not a review.*

Till next time!


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